Hot-air-furnace heating system.



T. E. HUNT. HOT AIR FURNAGE HEATING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.18,1907.

Patented June 29, 1909. a sHBRTs-SHEBT 1.

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T.E.HUNT..

HOT AIR FURNAGB HEATING SYSTEM.

APPLIOATIONFILED I``..`x3.18,1907.y 926,332.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. HUNT, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOQUAKERAMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

HOTIR-FU'BNACE HEATING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Application tiled February 18,1907. Serial No. 357,838.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be itknown that I, THOMAS E. HUNT, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Blue Island', in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hot-Air-FurnaceHeating Systems, of which the following is a. full, clear, and exactspecification.

My invention is concerned with improvements in hot-air furnaceheating-systems, and is designed to produce a system of the classdescribed which shall be capable of successful operation under allconditions of Wind and weather, and which shall be capable of heating upa building more quickly than has been possible heretofore with such sstems, andwith a less expenditure of fuel. gs is well' known, in suchsystems prior to my invention, the natural draft resulting from thedifferent specific gravity of het and cold air has been depended upon tointroduce the cold air into the casing of the furnace and to carry theheated air therefrom into rooms above the furnace. In case of a strongwind blowing across the cold-air inlet, it was a not infrequentoccurrence for the current of air through the apparatus to be reversedand the hot air drawn out of doors, thus making the successful operationof the apparatus impossible. To remedy this difculty, I supply means forproducing a forced draft, preferably an electric fan located in thecold-air inlet pipe, so that the cold air will be positively drawn intothe furnace casing and. forced to the rooms to be heated, even if theybe below the level of the furnace. I also preferably arrange the fan sothat itcan be readily withdrawn from the inlet pipe Without destroyingthe continuity of the latter, so that when the house is once thoroughlyheated and no adverse wind conditions exist, the fan may be removed,leaving the system unobstructed thereby, and capable of operating freelyunder natural draft conditions.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto two sheets of drawings, inwhich the same reference characters are used to designate identicalparts in all' the figures, of which,-

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a section throu hthe lower part of a building employing t e system ofmy invention; Fig.42 1s a similar vlew of. a portion of the same system,- but onl a largerscale, and with the furnace casing in section; Fig. 3 is a detail insection on the line A-A of Fig. 2; Fig. 4- -is a frontclevation of themeans for controlling the operation of the fan; Fig. 5 is a sectionalview of the same apparatus, on the line B-B of Fig. 6; Fig. 6 is avertical section on the line O-C of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a sectionalview on the line D-'D of Fig. 6.

In Fig. l, the floor of the basement is represented at 10, the outerwalls at 11 and 12, the first floor at 13, and the partition walls at 14and 15. The `furnacecasing is shown at 16, with the pipes 17, 18 and 19leading to the hot-air registers 20, 21 and 22 of the rooms 23 and 24and the hallway 25. The cold-air inlet pipe is represented at 26, and isprovided with the mlet preferably opening in the hallway 25, which 1sada ted to be closed by a. register valve 27. t a suitable point in thesystem, preferably at the point shown in the inlet passage, I locatemeans for producing a forced circulation of air through the system,which means preferably takes the form of a mechanical blower', such asthe fan operated by an electric motor,

indicated at 28. It will be perfectly apparient that, with thearrangement here shown, the cold air can be drawn from the inlet 27 .andforced through the furnace casing and ,through the dwelling much morerapidly out through the pipes 17, 1801' 19, and thus the heated air maybe caused to circulate `than is possible when depending upon the naturaldraft.

Of course the cold air inlet may open out of doors if desired, or it may.open both out of and indoors and by means :of valves in bothinlets,'the supply of cold air may bel drawn wholly from either sourceor partly from both, as may be preferred.

Once the temperature is raised to the desired point, the fan can be shutofi' and the natural circulation depended upon. I preferably,

however, provide means for removing the fan 28 from the air-inletpassage in order lthat it may be unobstructed, so as to operate undernatural draft conditions. For this E purpose, I employ the mechanismbest shown Fin Figs. 2 to 7, where it will be seen that the ifan. 28 ismounted in a framework comfposed of the base 30, which, whenthe fan lisin use, rests upon the bottom of the inlet pipe 26, and the top piece31, which, when the fan is in place, forms a portion of the top cured onthe outer end thereof and adap let pipe of the inlet-pipe 26. The base30 and the top piece 31 are connected in some suitable manner, as bythe-four posts 32, and I preferably provide a diaphragm 33 with acircular aperture just large enough to accommodate the fan blades, sothat the fan will draw a steady current of air through the 1nand not beimpeded byy any eddy currents that might be set up in the portion of thepassage not directly reached by the blades. To guide the fan frame as itis raised from the full-line position of Fig. 2 to the dotted-lineposition, I provide suitable means, such as the four posts 34, which, bycoperating with the recesses 35 in the corners of the base 30 and thetop piece 31, serve as guides for the fan-supporting frame when it israised by the cable or chain 36. I preferablyv arrange that the fan maybe operated from the first floor, and, for this purpose, I provide thecasing 37, which may be secured at a convenient point above the fan,such as upon the wall 14. This casing 37 is provided with a shaft 38journaled therein, having the operating handle 39 sei to be swunganti-clockwise from the position shown in Fig. 4, in which the fan is inposition, to a position 270 degrees therefrom in which the fan is out ofuse. The pointer 40 may be attached to the shaft to indicate A theposition of the fan. The cable 36 is attached at its upper end to thesheave 41 secured on the shaft 38, so that when the shaft is rotatedthrough the two hundred and seventy degrees indicated, the fan will bejust lifted out of the inlet passage 23, so that its base 30 will closethe aperture in the top of the inlet through which the fan is lifted. Tohold the fan llfted, I preferably employ a spring-pressed plunger 42 forthe handle 39, and provide an aperture 43 in the front of the casing,with which the plunger 42 cooperates to lock the shaft 38, andconsequently the fan, in its elevated position. When the fan is to beput into operation again,'all that is necessary is to pull out theplunger 42 and allow the fan to descend.

I preferably arrange the apparatus so that the current will be thrownonto the fan automatically when it is lowered, and cut off when it isralsed, and for this purpose, wires 44 leading to the fan are brought upto terminals 45 and 46 in the casin 37, and at the top of the casing aretermina 's 47 and 48 leading to the line wires. Upon the shaft 38 Isecure an insulating disk 49, which carries on its eriphery conductingstrips 50 and 51, which are adapted to connect the terminals 47 and 48and the terminals 45 and 46 when the shaft 38 is in the position for thefan to be raised, and to connect the terminals 45 and 47, and 46 and 48,when the fan is in its operative position.

While my system might be employed with any' form of ai furnace 52, it isdecidedly' better to employ it in connection with the Vair-tight varietyillustrated in Fig. 2, in

which the body is cylindrical, with the top and bottom and the Hoorcasings firmly riveted thereto so as to make the structure absolutelyair-tight with reference to the casing 16, an advantage which is notfound in thc ordinary cast construction. With the natural draft, thereis not much chance of` the gases of combustion escaping into the casing16, but with the forced circulation shown, there is more danger of thisoccurring, and for this reason I prefer to emplo my in-` vention withthe specific type o furnace shown.

While I prefer to locate the fan in the inlet passage, so that the airmay be forced equally to all the rooms in which the registers are open,I may locate the fan in one or more of the pipes 17 and 18, as indicatedat 28a in Fi 1.

While have shown and described my invention as embodied in the formwhich I at present consider best ada ted to carry out its purposes, itwill be un erstood that it is capable of modifications, and that I donot desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims,except as may be necessitated b the state of the rior art.

What I c aim as new, and esire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1'. In a system of the class described, the combination with a furnace,of a casing surrounding the same, an air-inlet passage open ing into thecasing, a hot-air supply passage leading therefrom, a mechanical blowerlocated in one of said passages so as to positively force cold air intothe casing and discharge it therefrom into the hot-air passage, andmeans for withdrawing the blower from the passage without destroying thecontinuity of the passage. c

2. In a system of the class described, the combination with a furnace,of a casing surrounding the same, an air-inlet passage opening into thecasing, a hot-air supply passage leading therefrom, a mechanical blowerlocated 1n one of said passages vso as to positively force cold air intothe casing and discharge it'therefrom into the hot-air passage, andmeans for withdrawing the blower from the passage without destroying thecontinuity of the passage and simultaneously stopping its motion.

3. In a system of the class described, the combination with a furnace,of a casing surrounding the same, an air-inlet passage opening into thecasing, a hot-air supply passage leading therefrom, a mechanical blowerlocated in one of said passages so as to posi tively force cold air intothe casing and discharge it therefrom into the hot-air passage, meansfor withdrawing the blower from the passage without destroying thecontinuity of the passage, and connections for operating said means froma distant part of the house.

4. In a system of the class described, the combination with a furnace,of a easing surrounding the same, an air-inlet passage opening into thecasing, a hot-air supply passage leading therefrom, an electric fanlocated in one of said passages so as to positively draw cold air intothe casing and discharge it therefrom into the hot-air passage, andmeans for withdrawing the fan from the passage and simultaneouslyswitching off the current from the fan motor.

5. In a heating system, a hot air furnace provided with an air intakepipe having an opening formed in one of its walls, a removable franiearranged inside of the pipe, a fan carried by the frame, the franiebeing provided with means for closing the opening when the fanis withinthe pipe, and said heating systeni being provided with means for closingthe opening when the frame is moved to carry the fan from the interiorof the pipe.

G. A hot air furnace provided with an air :32

intake pipe having an opening formed in the upper side thereof, a fraincarranged inside of said pipe and provided at its upper end with a platethat closes said opening. and an electric fan carried by said frame:substantially as described.

T. A hot air furnace provided with an air intake pipe having an openingformed in one of its walls, a franie arranged inside of said pipeprovided with a plate that closes said opening'I` and an electric fancarried by said frame; substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set iny hand and affixed luy seal,this 14th day of February, A. D. 1907.

THOMAS E. HUNT. [1.. s]

IVitiiesses JonN H. MoELRoY, M. S. Rennen.

